Wardrobe suitcase



H. SILVERMAN WARDROBE SUITCASE Feb. 7, 1939.

Filed May 29, 1956 Z'Sheets-Sheat l IIIHIIHIIIHHIH INVENTOR H/weyJ/u/mMmv TORNEY Feb. 7, 1939. H SILVERMAN WARDROBE SUITCASE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 29, 1936 5 I ORNEY Patented Feb. 7, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WARDROBE SUITGASE Harry Silverman, Brooklyn, N. Y.

Application 'May 29,

2 Claims.

This invention relates to Wardrobe suitcases. More particularly, it re'lates'to the type of traveling :suitcase, in which means are provided for hanging clothes in a folded condition, in such manner as to prevent wrinkles caused by shifting and rumpling.

=One ofthe objects of my invention is to prowide, in a traveling suitcase of the character described, an improved garment supporting rack havinga novel latch mechanism whereby the said rack may be quickly released for the purpose of positioninga garment thereon or for the removal of a garment therefrom.

Another object of my invention is to provide a traveling case of the character described, having highly improved garment supporting equipment of rugged construction; which shall comprise relatively few and simple parts; which shall be relatively inexpensive to manufacture; which shall be easyto operate, and which at the'same time shall be higl'ily efficient for the purposes intended.

Other objects of this invention will in part be obvious and in part hereinafter pointed out.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements, and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter described, and o'f wliichthe scope of application will be indicatedin the following claims.

In the accompanying drawings, in which is shown one of the various possible illustrative embodiments of this invention,

Fig. -1 is a front elevational, assembly view of a wardrobe suitcase in opened position, and em- :5 bodying my invention;

Fig.2 is a sectional view taken substantially on the'line 2-2 of Fig. l;

3 is a sectional view taken substantially onthe line'33 ofFig. 1,-but omitting a portion of the garment supporting rack mechanism shownin Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail section taken substantially on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1, illustrating a portion of the garment supporting rack in latched position;

Fig. 5 is a View similar to Fig. 4 but illustrating the manner of unlatching the garment supporting rack;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail section taken sub- 50 stantially on the line 6-6 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 6 but illustrating the arrangement of the device after a portion of it has been rotated approximately 90.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, there is disclosed a wardrobe suitcase comprising a 1936, Serial No. 82,385

bottom section I!) and acover section II. The sections ill and H are hingedly connected together, at one end, in the customary manner, and provided at the other end with suitable locking members l5, I6 of any suitable design well known 5 in the art, and having a handle 11 of usual construction.

My improved garment supporting rack R is preferably mounted within the cover section "H and comprises a pair of side members 20 and 21 10 which are pivotally fastened to the oppositeside walls of the cover H by means of pivots 22 supported in brackets 23, which in turn are rigidly attached to the said side walls. Interconnecting brace members 24 and 25 may be employed to 15 reinforce the side members 20 and 2|.

To retain the above described garment supporting rack R in its effective position, that is, within the cover II, as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 4, I provide a projecting pin '25 mounted on each-of the -99 side members 20 and 2i. The pins '26 are designed to cooperate with latch devices 28,which are pivotally mounted on the pivots 30, which in turn are supported in the brackets 29. 'The brackets 29 may be fixedly attached to the side 5 walls of the cover I l by any suitable attaching means such as screws 3|. Each latch 28 is provided with a specially designed notched portion 32, which is adapted to receive and holdthe pins 26 therein, in order to insure the garmentsupporting rack R against pivotally swinging out of its proper position, when the cover II isclosed or when the case is tilted and thus prevent wrinkling of the clotheson the rack. A spring 33 is 'employed to normally cause the latch 28 topivotin'a downward direction, with respect to Figs. 2 and-4 of the drawings to render the locking device effective.

To facilitate the proper positioning of a garment on the rack R, I have provided a U-shaped auxiliary frame 35, comprising side members, 3'! and an interconnecting horizontal bar 38. The said side members 36 and 3l,are pivotally connected to the side members 20 and 2 I, respectively,

by means of pivots 40, whose axes may be in dotted lines in Fig. 2 of the drawings. My improved construction comprises outwardly projecting pins 40 mounted on the auxiliary frame side members 36 and 31. These pins 40 are so disposed that when the auxiliary frame is pivotally moved upwardly to a position as illustrated in Fig. 5, by means of the bar 38, they will contact the cammed ends 28a of the latches 28, to pivotally raise said latches 28 against the action of the springs 33 and thus free the pins 26 from the notches 32. The garment carrying equipment R, now released, may be pivotally swung to a position, as shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 2 of the drawings, which is the effective position for arranging a garment on the rack R or for removing a garment therefrom.

In order to further prevent garments such as suits and coats from becoming wrinkled while properly arranged on the above described garment rack B, there is provided one or more clothes hangers of customary design which may be provided with pivotally mounted hooks 4|, whereby the said hangers 40, having clothes thereon, may be removed from the case and hung up in a closet in the usual way. A pair of projecting plates 45, disposed on opposite sides of the hangers 40, are provided for holding the said hangers in proper position within the wardrobe case. Each of the plates is provided with aligned notches 46 at the ends thereof, which are adapted to receive therein one leg of an angular plate 41. The hangers 40 are retained on the plate 41 by any suitable locking means, such as for example, a pivotally mounted cam ,arm 48 provided with a knob 49 at one end thereof in order to facilitate the movement thereof. In Fig. 7 the locking arm 48 is shown in ineffective position to permit the positioning of the hangers 40 on the plate 41, while in Flg. 6, the locking arm 48 is shown in operative .sitlon shown in Fig. 2.

position. The angular plate 41 is preferably rigidly mounted on a member 50 by any suitable means, such as a rivet 5|. The member 50 is, in turn, rotatably mounted on a pair of brackets .52 by means of pivots 53, the said brackets being rigidly attached to a bottom wall Ila of the cover II.

The operation and use of my invention may be described as follows:

The garment rack equipment R as described in detail above, is first released from its latched position, by raising the handle 38 of the auxiliary frame in the manner hereinbefore described, and therack R caused to assume the dotted line po- A suit or similar garment properly hung on a hanger 40, and having the hook 4| thereof swung into an inoperative position as shown in Fig. 1, is then mounted on the plate 41 as shown in Fig. '7, after which it is locked in position by means of the arm 48, as shown in Fig. 6. The portions of the suit extending from the hanger 40, are then draped over the rods 25 and 24 of the garment rack R. and over the bar 38 of the auxiliary frame 35,

u if desired. The rack R carrying the suit is then swung into position within the cover H, as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 4 and locked in said position by the latch 28, Due to the fact that the clothes hanger 40 is pivotally mounted as hereinbefore described, the hangers 40 and the suit thereon will freely move with the movement of the garment rack R, from the dotted line position to the full line position as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings. A fabric protective covering of customary design may also be employed, if desired, to further protect the suit against dust or against contact with articles contained in the bottom section 10.

It will thus be seen that there is provided a device in which the several objects of this invention are achieved, and which is Well adapted to meet the conditions of practical use.

As various possible embodiments might be made of the above invention, and as various changes might be made in the embodiments set forth, it

is to be understood that all matter herein contained, or shown in the accompanying drawings, is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. For use in a suitcase, in combination, a pivotally mounted main garment supporting frame, an auxiliary frame pivotally mounted on said main frame, a latch device comprising a 1 pair of flat rod members, each of said rod members having one end thereof mounted on a pivot, notches adjacent the other ends of said rod members, a portion of the main frame received in said notches to lock said main frame in position, a spring for urging each of said rod members to rotate about its pivot to hold said main frame in such locked position, and means on said auxiliary frame to rotate said rod members for automatically releasing said main frame por- 'tion from within the said notches upon pivotal movement of said auxiliary frame against the action of said springs.

2. For use in a suitcase, in combination, a pivotally mounted main garment supporting frame, an auxiliary frame pivotally mounted on said main frame, a latch device comprising a pair of flat rod members, each of said rod members having one end thereof mounted on a pivot, notches adjacent the other ends of said rod members, a portion of the main frame received in said notches to lock said main frame in such locked position, a spring for urging each of said rod members to rotate about its pivot to hold said main frame in such locked position, and means on said auxiliary frame for automatically releasing said main frame portion from within the said notches upon pivotal movement of said auxiliary frame, said last named means comprising projections on said auxiliary frame adapted to contactively engage said rod members for causing movement of said rod members about their pivots against the action of said springs.

HARRY SILVERMAN. 

